One of the world’s oldest narrative pieces of art has been found by archaeologists in Turkey, and it features a man grasping his penis in the front.
According to the paper’s author, archaeologist Eylem Zdoan, the object, which is thought to be 11,000 years old, may offer hitherto unobtainable insights regarding the prehistoric communities that formerly called the area home.
On the right register of the panel, a standing guy holding his member is etched in strong relief. He is encircled on either side by two leopards, and on the carving’s left side is another human figure holding a bull. This figure likewise has an enlarged phallus.
Older works of art, like the 45,000-year-old painting of pigs discovered in an Indonesian cave in 2020, imply narrative, but the recently discovered Sayburç panel appears to convey a progressive story; its scenes link to one another like cells on a film strip.
According to zdoan, “This scene has the narrative integrity of both a theme and a story,” and it is the most in-depth representation of a Neolithic “story” that has been discovered thus far in the Near East. It helps us understand the Neolithic people and their culture.
Furthermore, it’s likely that the three-foot-tall relief had a function other than aesthetic beauty, such as an instructional one.
In an interview with the Art Newspaper, zdoan stated, “The major distinction is that cave paintings are done in places that are not accessible to everyone—they are hidden and not seen by everyone.” However, the Neolithic images must have been used in the gathering places so that everyone could understand the narrative. They can therefore be considered the earliest ontological narratives.
Sayburç, which is about 20 miles north of the Syrian border, was first inhabited around 9,000 B.C.E., when nomadic hunter-gatherers began to settle down and lead more sedentary lives. They built long-lasting structures, created stone tools, and mastered farming.
The Sayburç carving represents how humans’ perspectives of their place in the world evolved as a result of this transformation.
“In oral traditions, stories, rituals, and strong symbolic elements form the foundation of the ideologies that shape society beyond spirituality,” Özdoğan explained in the study.
“The Sayburç reliefs, then, can be seen in a similar light: the reflection of a collective memory that kept the values of its community alive.”
